Hermione's Journey

Chapter Eleven

"Why didn't you stop him?" Peter asked angrily and breathlessly as we ran through the snow.

"How was I supposed to know where he was going?" I didn't let up. "If we're going to be like that, I can ask you why you didn't stop him before he even left the lodge!"

"Quiet you two," Mr. Beaver hissed. "We're getting close!" We shut up and Peter slightly pulled ahead of the rest of us. We left the trees behind and sprinted across the flat snowy wasteland.

I heard an "oof!" come from behind me and cast a glance back to see that Lucy had tripped over the front of her coat. I turned back around when Susan stopped to help her sister up.

"Hurry up!" Peter called back as we reached the crest of the hill. I froze at the top of the hill, rooted to the spot by the sight in front of me. Rising up into the sky, was a castle made of ice. Its jagged turrets scraped the sky and made me tingle just looking at them. It held a terrifying sort of beauty. The ice wasn't smooth or crystal clear; it was jagged and clouded. With one look, I could tell that it was filled to the brim with dark magic.

We all skidded to a stop as we spotted a lone figure that could only be Edmund, walking up to the palace gates with hardly any hesitation in his steps.

"Edmund!" Lucy shouted in an attempt to lure her brother away.

"Shh! They'll hear ya!" Mr. Beaver whispered loudly. A determined look plastered itself onto Peter's face, and he started to run after Edmund, just to be yanked back by Mr. Beaver.

"Get off me!" Peter said angrily and jerked his sleeve away from Mr. Beaver. "We just can't let him go!"

"We have to do something!" I took a step towards Mr. Beaver. He backed up slightly. Was I really that intimidating?

"Don't you get it?" he hissed. "He's the bait! She wants all four of ya! To kill ya!" He directed this part to Peter, Susan, and Lucy.

"Why does she want to kill them?" I pointed to the Pevensies.

"To stop the prophecy from coming true!" Mr. Beaver pleaded with us.

"Wait," I spared a look at the castle before continuing, "she doesn't want me...right?"

"No. She doesn't, but I hardly see what that has to do with-" Mr. Beaver began, frustrated, but I wasn't listening. I took off at a dead sprint towards the witch's palace, determined to pull Edmund out of this mess. I drew my wand, not caring about revealing my secret anymore. The circumstances had changed.

"HERMIONE!" I heard Peter yell at the top of his lungs. "Stop! You're going to get yourself killed!" I heard a loud 'shush' and silently thanked Mr. Beaver for most likely keeping him from going after me.

This was way worse than any of the messes I've pulled Harry and Ron out of.
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"Ugh!" Peter kicked the snow. "Why would she do that?" Peter took a deep breath. "I can just imagine what we would tell Professor Kirke. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Your great niece is dead because she was going after our idiot brother.' Why did you tell her something like that?"

"I didn't know she was going to take off after your brother," Mr. Beaver said. "She has a better chance of gettin' him back than any of ya, but your friend is in over her head."

"This is all your fault!" Susan suddenly blew up at her older brother. "None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me in the first place!"

"So you knew this would happen?" Peter asked critically.

"I didn't know what would happen," Susan seemed slightly taken aback. "Which is why we should've left when we still had the chance!"

"Stop!" Lucy butted in and looked at Susan and Peter seriously. "This isn't going to help Edmund and Hermione." Peter and Susan stopped talking, knowing that there was no way they could possibly disagree with her without seeming childish, that and what she said was true.

"She's right," Mr. Beaver looked up at the two oldest Pevensies. "Only Aslan can save them now." The silence was deafening as Peter took one long look at the witch's castle. Hermione was still in view, just a tiny speck against the snow. She was almost to the castle, and there was no way to catch up to her by the time she would follow Edmund's lead and enter the frozen gates.

"Then take us to him," said Peter.
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I slowed down slightly as I reached a wall made of ice, and rubbed my hands against my wand furiously. Wait, I thought, Why didn't I think of this before? Fire!

Minutes later, I had a ball of fire hovering a couple of feet from me. I sighed in content, and then continued to make my way along the edge of the wall. I cringed every time the snow crunched under my feet. Each noise I made, made me feel as if I were about to be swooped upon at any second. It didn't take me long to reach the gate Edmund had gone through moments before, and his footprints were still fresh in the snow. I stepped into each one as I approached the entrance, until I remembered I was a witch. Ron's voice echoed in my ear, and I smiled. HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?! I flicked my wand, and the snow quickly smoothed over itself.

"So..." I mumbled out loud. "Alohomora." Nothing happened. I waved my wand again, and again saying a different incantation each time, but with the same result. "Is it a sort of Open Sesame thing? Is that it?" I couldn't help but remember that the gate had opened for Edmund.

I gave up. I twirled my wand in the air, and then jabbed it at the ice. It blasted away. I had to tread carefully over the shards of ice that were everywhere and darted into the doors. The ice looked like it could go right through your foot. I turned around again and made a flicking motion with my hand. "Reparo." The ice flew back together and mended itself like it had never been shattered to pieces.

I pushed forward, cautious of every shadow I saw. This sneaking about wasn't really my cup of tea. What I was doing was something Harry or even Ron would most likely do. Not me. But it was too late to back out now.
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This chapter is dedicated to Howling_Wolf_13! She helped me make a very important decision regarding this story. Not that she knows anything about it, but she helped all the same. Thank you to those who are commenting and voting! Sorry this took a little while.